Why cant test-drive cars be better?

This is a discussion on Why cant test-drive cars be better? within The Indian Car Scene, part of the BHP India category; When I went to TVS in Trivandrum and asked for a test drive of the new Bolero, they initially brought ...

When I went to TVS in Trivandrum and asked for a test drive of the new Bolero, they initially brought me the old Bolero and told me that there wasn't much difference. The car was crap and it was explained by the staff that it had already done 70K kms. I told them I wasn't interested then. Finally they brought out a car which was ready to be delivered that afternoon, provided I would restrict the drive to a spin around their premises. Their Quanto was a proper TD car though, with stickers and everything. I appreciate the fact that they would not let me take out a car to be delivered, but they should have a proper TD car considering it was more than six months after the new Bolero launch. However, The Logan they brought home to show us was a new vehicle fresh from the yard.

More often than not, it's regular, for-delivery cars that ends up being passed around for test drives, especially with popular models. Even dealerships of companies that sell lakhs of cars keep only one car (more if it has engine options) for TD purpose. Considering that popular cars get more requests for TD, and considering that not giving a TD might push the customer to another brand/dealer, it is inevitable that dealers end up giving whatever cars they have for test drives.

Caveat Emptor is all I can say in such a situation. What I do is, I go to the yard and pick one of the more dusty ones there, since they are less likely to be driven around. But you have to inspect the VIN details and make sure it hasn't been lying there for too long.